General Motors and Toyota are calling for laws on the deployment of self-driving vehicle prototypes to be relaxed in the United States.
On Tuesday, officials from the automakers will discuss the issue to a U.S. House panel and believe that any delay in the development and testing of autonomous vehicles will result in deaths.
In a recent statement, vice president of global strategy at GM, Mike Abelson said “Without changes to those regulations, it may be years before the promise of today’s technology can be realized and thousands of preventable deaths that could have been avoided will happen.
“It is imperative that manufacturers have the ability to test these vehicles in greater numbers,” he said.
As it stands, just 2,500 vehicles in a 12-month period can be made exempt from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration laws but Democratic politician Debbie Dingell hopes to lift this cap.
In advance testimony, chief executive of the Toyota Research Institute Gill Pratt said “It is important that the federal government begin looking beyond testing to deployment of these systems.”
Automotive News reports that Volvo and Lyft will also tell the U.S. House panel about the necessity of bringing autonomous technologies to the market as quickly as possible.
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